The fight for the second position is burning. Neither Atlético nor Sevilla nor Betis nor Barcelona seem to yearn for the runner-up. The colchoneros, who avoided the slip ‘in extremis’ against Espanyol, came face to face with Granada’s defensive work by debutant Aitor Karanka. The Andalusians continue to decline, although with reinforced spirits.
The Atlético de Madrid matches are an artificial dose of melatonin. The schedule and the evening sun lashing over Canillejas did not help the vigil either. The first half was an effort for the eyelids, with an Atleti with a poisonous rhythm and a Granada with a doubtful chromatic taste and not suitable for colorblind people.
Football did not appear to the joy of Oblak and Maximiano, nothing required. A butt between Víctor Díaz and Griezmann, and another between Quini and Reinildo, both booked, were the ‘highlights’ of the leaden opening act.
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Cholo shook the strawberry tree at intermission and introduced outlaw Luis Suarez. It was not the charrúa, but his avant-garde companions Griezmann and Correa who threatened the Nasrids with two concatenated shots from the edge.
The stopwatch dwarfed and sank the Andalusians, in the hands of an inspired Collado, while Atleti thrived without ideas before the Granada bolt. The last stretch of the contest was real nonsense. Delivery failures unbecoming of the elite. Even so, Matheus Cunha had the 1-0 of some mattresses subscribed to the epic of the opposite sidewalk. This time it was tails.